Acquisitions - Additional Information (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands				3 Months Ended																12 Months Ended					21 Months Ended
		Dec. 31, 2016	Jan. 12, 2015	Dec. 31, 2016		Sep. 30, 2016	[3]	Jun. 30, 2016	[3]	Mar. 31, 2016	[3]	Dec. 31, 2015		Sep. 30, 2015	[3]	Jun. 30, 2015	[3]	Mar. 31, 2015	[3]	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015		Dec. 31, 2014		Dec. 31, 2016	Feb. 19, 2015
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Goodwill		$ 1,540,032		$ 1,540,032								$ 1,460,552	[1],[2]							$ 1,540,032	$ 1,460,552	[1],[2]	$ 243,262	[2]	$ 1,540,032
Acquisition and integration related costs				13,047	[3]	$ 6,749		$ 19,030		$ 18,558		$ 15,128	[3]	$ 36,514		$ 22,832		$ 57,825		57,384	132,299		30,158
Other acquisitions																				126,747	48,845		0
Purchase of noncontrolling interest																				0	4,784		0
Rockwood Holdings, Inc.
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Total purchase price			$ 5,725,321
Goodwill			$ 2,818,627
Change in purchase price allocation, goodwill																				1,500					193,800
Acquisition and integration related costs																				52,100	123,900		23,600
Acquired finite-lived intangible assets, weighted average useful life			23 years
Utilization of inventory markup																					103,400
Property, plant and equipment			$ 1,383,480
Other significant projects
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Acquisition and integration related costs																				5,300	8,400		6,600
Jiangxi Jiangli New Materials Science and Technology Co. Ltd.
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Other acquisitions		145,000
Property, plant and equipment		29,000		29,000																29,000					29,000
Deferred tax assets		1,600		1,600																1,600					1,600
Fair value of net working capital		$ 47,100		$ 47,100																47,100					$ 47,100
Goodwill	[4]																			$ 113,555
Shanghai Chemetall
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Acquisition of remaining interest in Shanghai Chemetall																					57,600
Chemal GmbH
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Other acquisitions																					2,200
Nanjing Chemetall Surface Treatment Technologies
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Purchase of noncontrolling interest																					4,800
Common Stock | Rockwood Holdings, Inc.
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Appraisal shares																										882,000
Acquisition and integration related costs | Rockwood Holdings, Inc.
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Acquisition and integration related costs																					$ 137,700		$ 23,600
Patents and technology | Rockwood Holdings, Inc.
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Acquired finite-lived intangible assets, weighted average useful life			20 years
Trade names and trademarks | Rockwood Holdings, Inc.
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Acquired finite-lived intangible assets, weighted average useful life			20 years
Customer lists and relationships | Rockwood Holdings, Inc.
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Acquired finite-lived intangible assets, weighted average useful life			24 years

[1] As of December 31, 2015, $1.5 billion of Goodwill was classified as Assets held for sale in the consolidated balance sheets. See Note 3, “Divestitures,” for additional information.

[2] The December 31, 2015 and 2014 balances have been recast to reflect a change in segments. See Note 25, “Segment and Geographic Area Information,” for further details.

[3] See Note 2, “Acquisitions,” for additional information.

[4] Represents preliminary purchase price adjustments for the Jiangxi Jiangli New Materials Science and Technology Co. Ltd. acquisition recorded for the year ended December 31, 2016. See Note 2, “Acquisitions,” for additional information.